Archive for February, 2013

I’m sure the irony of this is not lost on you. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) promoting Democrats in the face of the evils they portray as concerns for minority is rich, and just tad bit intellectually dishonest, but what would you expect from such as the NAACP. After all, warning against the return of the KKK and lynching by promoting Democrats—the same party that CREATED the KKK and PREVENTED lynching from being a federal felony—is rich. Of course, not highlighting other contradictions in their imagery is ironic as well, like the fact that Martin Luther King Jr. was a Republican or that the first African-Americans elected to Congress were Republicans. Of course, the greatest advances to “colored people”—the very thing that the NAACP is suppose to champion (literally)—are all things that the Democrat party has stood in firm opposition too.

Now, Democrats white wash this historical FACT by claiming that they’ve “changed”. That somehow, all these transgressions have somehow migrated to the Republican party because, well, the Democrats say so. Nevermind that this is of course absurd and an outright lie—THAT’s never stopped a Democrat before—or that the Democrats continue to destroy the fabric of African-American society with record unemployment, poverty and the general breakdown of the family unit. We are told to ignore the current plight of African-Americans, that none of the Administration’s policies has hurt them, when in fact, ALL of the Administration’s policies have hurt them and the rest of the country.

Delusion is a sweet dish, but the clarity that follows the intoxication is burns the heart greater than most can bare.

1) The Trail of Tears (1838): The first Democrat President, Andrew Jackson and his successor Martin Van Buren, herded Indians into camps, tormented them, burned and pillaged their homes and forced them to relocate with minimal supplies. Thousands died along the way.

2) Democrats Cause The Civil War (1860): The pro-slavery faction of the Democrat Party responded to Abraham Lincoln’s election by seceding, which led to the Civil War.

3) Formation of the KKK (1865): Along with 5 other Confederate veterans, Democrat Nathan Bedford Forrest created the KKK.

5) The American Protective League and The Palmer Raids (1919-1921): Under the leadership of Woodrow Wilson, criticizing the government became a crime and a fascist organization, the American Protective League was formed to spy on and even arrest fellow Americans for being insufficiently loyal to the government. More than 100,000 Americans were arrested, with less than 1% of them ever being found guilty of any kind of crime.

7) The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment (1932-1972): Contrary to what you may have heard, Democrats in Alabama did not give black Americans syphilis. However, the experimenters did know that subjects of the experiment unknowingly had syphilis and even after it was proven that penicillin could be used to effectively treat the disease in 1947, the experiments continued. As a result, a number of the subjects needlessly infected their loved ones and died, when they could have been cured.

9) Alger Hiss Convicted Of Perjury (1950): Hiss, who helped advise FDR at Yalta and was strongly defended by the Left, turned out to be a Soviet spy. He was convicted of perjury in 1950 (Sadly, the statute of limitations on espionage had run out), but was defended by liberals for decades until the Verona papers proved so conclusively that he was guilty that even most his fellow liberals couldn’t continue to deny it.

10) The West Virgina Democrat primary is rigged by John F. Kennedy (1960): From an interview with the late, great Robert Novak.

John Hawkins: You also said that without question, John F. Kennedy rigged the West Virginia Democratic primary in (1960), but that the Wall Street Journal killed the story. Do you think that sort of thing is still occurring with great regularity and do you wish the Journal had reported the story when it happened?

Robert Novak: In my opinion, they should have. They sent two reporters down to West Virginia for six weeks and they came back with a carefully documented story on voter fraud in West Virginia, buying votes, and how he beat Humphrey in the primary and therefore got the nomination. But, Ed Kilgore, the President of Dow Jones and publisher of the Wall Street Journal, a very conservative man, said it wasn’t the business of the Wall Street Journal to decide the nominee of the Democratic Party and he killed the story. That story didn’t come out for many, many years — 30-40 years. It was kept secret all that time.

11) The Bay of Pigs (1961): After training a Cuban militia to overthrow Castro, Kennedy got cold feet and didn’t give the men all the air support they were promised. As a result, they were easily defeated by Castro’s men and today, Cuba is still ruled by a hostile, anti-American dictatorship.

12) Fire Hoses And Attack Dogs Used On Children (1963): Birmingham, Alabama’s notorious Commissioner of Public Safety, Democrat Bull Connor, used attack dogs and fire hoses on children and teenagers marching for civil rights. Ultimately, thousands of them would also be arrested.

13) Stand In The Schoolhouse Door (1963): Democrat George Wallace gave his notorious speech against integrating schools at the University of Alabama in which he said, “segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.”

14) Escalation In Vietnam (1964): Lyndon Johnson dramatically escalated our troops’ presence in Vietnam while he simultaneously put political restrictions in place that made the war unwinnable. As a result, 58,000 Americans died in a war that ultimately achieved none of its aims.

15) Chappaquiddick (1969): The Democrats’ beloved “Liberal Lion” of the Senate, Ted Kennedy ran off the road into a tidal pool with passenger Mary Jo Kopechne in the car. Kennedy swam free and then spent 9 hours plotting how he would reveal the news to the press while she slowly suffocated to death.

16) Democrats Deliver South Vietnam To The North (1975):“In 1975, when there were no Americans left in Vietnam, the left wing of the Democratic Party killed the government of South Vietnam, cut off all of its funding, cut off all of its ammunition, and sent a signal to the world that the United States had abandoned its allies.” — Newt Gingrich

17) The Iranian Hostage Crisis (1979-1981): 52 Americans were held hostage by the government of Iran for 444 days. After Jimmy Carter’s disastrous, failed rescue attempt, the hostages were finally released after Ronald Reagan’s inaugural address.

18) Bill Clinton turns down Osama Bin Laden (1996): In Bill Clinton’s own words, “‘Mr. bin Laden used to live in Sudan. He was expelled from Saudi Arabia in 1991, then he went to Sudan. And we’d been hearing that the Sudanese wanted America to start meeting with them again. They released him. At the time, 1996, he had committed no crime against America so I did not bring him here because we had no basis on which to hold him, though we knew he wanted to commit crimes against America.’ — Bill Clinton explains to a Long Island, N.Y., business group why he turned down Sudan’s offer to extradite Osama Bin Laden to America in 1996.” Had Bill Clinton accepted Sudan’s offer, 9/11 would have likely never happened.

19) Bill Clinton was impeached (1998): Clinton became only the 2nd President in American history to be impeached after he lied under oath about his affair with Monica Lewinsky.

20) America loses its AAA credit rating (2011): The United States was first given its AAA credit in 1917, but it couldn’t survive Barack Obama’s record breaking spending. In 2011, America lost its AAA credit rating.

Via zerohedge.com. This applies as much to governments as it does to people…

Money – we all want it, but few of us are willing to sacrifice to get it. Those that have it generally don’t understand it, and those that don’t have it come up with excuses why they can’t get it. If this sounds confusing – it is.

For all that we have accomplished in the United States in the last 200+ years we have failed miserably at teaching our children the basics of money management. I am not talking about stock and bond portfolios but rather the basics of spending less than you make, understanding of credit, and how to balance a check a book.

We are inundated daily with credit card commercials that show how great life can be – just charge it. We are enticed to buy things that we don’t really need though the use of zero percent financing – but only while it lasts. We are motivated to consume anything and everything in pursuit of the American dream but no one ever talks about the consequences of our actions.

The Secret To Wealth

I could literally be kicked out of the financial community for divulging the one secret that has been so closely guarded by the credit card companies, the mortgage companies, the banks and WallStreet for so many years. This secret, of course, is the true road to wealth and happiness. It is irrefutable, undeniable and absolutely achievable. If you implement this one secret in your life – you will be rich and you won’t be able to stop it.

The Secret: Spend Less Than You Make

That’s right. This is the one secret that no one wants you to know because the more you save – the less the credit card companies make. The more you save the less in fees that Wall Street makes. The more you save the wealthier you get.

2: an often blindly partisan advocate or adherent of a particular ideology

fan·nat·ic

noun

1. a person with an extreme and uncritical enthusiasm or zeal, as in religion or politics.

syc·o·phant

n. A servile self-seeker who attempts to win favor by flattering influential people.

Conservatives have pointed out for some time the rank hypocrisy of the left and its zeal for anything Obama. It is one thing to idealize the man, but we’ve seen the left literally strip down and bare it’s naked, fanatical obsession with Obama. The lefts “reaction” to the leaked White House memo on extra-judicial killing of American citizens would be comedic if it wasn’t so deadly serious.

The true sycophants have come out of the woodwork, focused on providing any excuse for Obama’s excessive abuse of power. But this, this is fanatical messianic zeal that should terrify most Americans:

What a stupid fucking twit. Here’s a prime example of how moronic and ill-informed left wing “experts” are. Obama is executing Bush’s drone program. Period. The only difference is that Obama has increased the number of strikes exponentially. Oh yeah, and he’s the only President to use a drone to kill an American citizen—correction—THREE American citizens. That’s right, it has been Mr. Responsible Obama—not Mr. Irresponsible Bush—to violate the Constitutionally protected 4th Amendment rights of U.S. citizens. Likewise, it has been Obama—not Bush—to significantly increase the number of civilian casualties from drone strikes. Yes, Obama has killed far more ‘innocent’ lives with the drone program than Bush ever did, but according to the left wing twit and her ilk, Obama deserves more trust because he’s apparently more responsible.

It is easy to let hyperbole enter politics and political discussions in general. I’ll admit that I detest Obama with every fabric of my being. I despise the man and everything he stands for: emphasis being on the latter. I don’t like Obama as a person because he is a liar, a narcissist, and an arrogant condescending prick, but it is what he believes and represents that I revile most.

But to get lectured by a cadre of people, who consistently demonstrate a dearth of intellectual integrity and stamina is beyond the pale. We’re consistently told that liberals are the true champions of civil liberties, even while it is liberals who work to constrain or remove Constitutional rights they don’t like (the 2nd Amendment), or limit speech they don’t agree with (fairness doctrine). However, there is no hypocrisy like this, to decry the abuses of power by Bush (warrantless wire taps, Patriot Act) and yet cuddle up to an Administration in Obama who has taken every single thing Bush did, and multiply by factors. Obama has expanded warrantless wire taps and Patriot Act actions, he has expanded drone operations and is openly granting himself the authority to be judge, jury and executioner against U.S. citizens that he deems a threat—an extremely slippery slope exceptionally explained by BiW.

In full disclosure, I’m torn at the drone program. Unlike the vast majority of Americans, I see the back story to a lot of this activity: who they’re going after and why; when they go or don’t; and what’s the justification for the operation. I’ve seen the program be extremely effective at hurting terrorist organizations and I can attest that the program has saved lives. That said, the judicial application of the program—and it has honestly been a judicial application—has not been because of Obama, but despite of Obama. Frankly, the heavy involvement of lawyers and the extreme sensitivity to collateral damage are efforts to protect against charges of flagrant killing. And this Administration has shown it is more than willing to throw anyone under the bus to scapegoat—just ask the CIA.

I do not trust Obama. It is the multiple cogs of middle and senior management in the various government entities that judiciously apply the programs. I actually support the premise from former Secretary of Defense Bob Gates to create FISA-like courts (or just expand the focus of the FISA courts themselves) for drone operations. Something to apply some checks and balances to an executive branch—and this Administration specifically—bent on expanding its power at the expense of Congress, the Courts and especially the people.

There are so many angles to this story that just makes one want to puke. Obama’s intentional disinterest in the security of diplomatic facilities in harm’s way; the complete failure of a Secretary of State and her department to adequately manage resources and the security of personnel in hostile environments; the intentional deluge of disinformation while withholding accurate information so as to distort perceptions for political advancement—this Administration has done what no other modern Administration has managed to do: Out-Nixon Nixon.

Richard Nixon’s crime was withholding and distorting information after the fact—the cover-up—but Nixon’s malfeasance never resulted in the deaths of a U.S. Ambassador and diplomats. Nixon didn’t obfuscate the deaths of American citizens, yet Obama has done just that. We, as a nation, should be furious at the persistent series of lies and distortions this Administration has pushed forward.

First, as Commander-in-Chief, it is Obama’s first responsibility to defend America and its interests, anywhere in the world. He isn’t expected to don body armor and head into the front lines, but he is supposed to be actively engaged in defending the nation. Yet, he completely failed to not only be engaged, but to even be interested:

We jokingly asked where the obligatory crisis room photo op is. Well, now we know why one was never put out—he never showed up. 3 AM phone call? Please…

I don’t think folks truly recognize how damning this statement is. Consulates and Embassies are SOVEREIGN territories of the state. That IS U.S. soil, and to not show ANY interest in defending it, let curiosity as to what the hell is happening on it WHILE being attacked is criminal. But this is just as damning for Clinton as it is for Obama—no call from the State Department was ever made for support:

The testimony from Panetta and Dempsey makes the completely absurd claim of “what difference does it make” all that much more damning.

The difference, you incompetent fucking hag, is that you CANNOT “figure out what happened” if you do not know what the cause of the attack was. And this wasn’t a protest that went bad, or a random act of violence against Americans in some foreign land: it was an ATTACK by AL-QAIDA against a U.S. CONSULATE on fucking SEPTEMBER 11th.

What has happened with regards to the Benghazi Consulate attack is criminal. Obama, Clinton, and multiple others in this Administration have been lying to the American people. Obama’s lies have been from the get-go because he knew his failures would likely result in his not getting re-elected: and he was probably right. So now we, trapped in an Administration that is failing on so many levels for all the wrong reasons, have to come to terms with the simple fact that Obama and his cronies need to be held accountable for the loss of life on the fateful day.

We should be furious. We should be repulsed. We should not let this go unanswered.

This is a snippet of an article I recently read on the impact of Obamacare to the economy. There have been consistent, persistent and blatantly obvious obstructions placed in the road to business by this administration. The pResident has worked long and hard to not only ensure his economic malfeasance persists, but has been abetted by a willingly corrupt media in veiling the damage being done by the policies of the left. But first, a vignette:

I’m in the commercial real estate business, and have managed commercial properties for more than 20 years. A friend of mine has been in the real estate services business, providing everything from janitorial services to window washing to parking lot repairs for about as long. In fact, the company I work for was his first account. In the last 20 years, he has expanded from a handful of full-time employees to 150 full-time employees. I recently discussed with him his concerns about the effect of Obamacare on his business. Most of his employees are in lower-skill occupations and so only earn $10 – $15 per hour. He cannot afford to tack on health care benefits equal to another $3.50 to $5.50 per hour without going broke. His more affordable alternative would be to pay the $2,000 per employee fee, which would effectively erase his entire 2012 profit from his business. In essence, this one provision is the equivalent of a 90% – 100% tax on his typical net business income. Worse yet, since the law does not allow the $2,000 per employee charge as a deductible business expense, he’ll have to pay federal income tax on approximately $240,000 of business income he didn’t get. Implicit in the law (or perhaps it is explicit) is the notion that it is the responsibility of employers to provide health insurance to their employees, and if they don’t they are bad people, greedy capitalists exploiting the working class, and deserve to be punished.

What is my friend to do? He can raise his prices and risk losing business from people like me who will then need to cut back on his services, or who will go to his smaller competitors with fewer than 50 employees who are not (yet) subject to the fee. Or he can cut back the hours of his employees until he has fewer than 50 working full-time. Or he can fire most of his employees and tell them they are on their own as independent contractors, and he may be able to subcontract with them from time-to-time for specific jobs. None of these alternatives are good for the business owner, his customers, his employees, or the economy in general.

This is what you get when people sheltered all their lives in government and community organizing, with little knowledge of how businesses actually operate, are put in charge of crafting far-reaching economic policies. This is what you get from people who don’t recognize businesses as the drivers of employment, economic growth, and higher standards of living, but see them as entities that need to be regulated, managed, and controlled by government for the “public good.” This is what you get from people who deride the idea that successful businesses are created by their owners working long hours, developing good ideas, and putting capital at risk, but instead are the creations of government and the community at large.

This, of course, brings to mind another worthy read and a great window into the future of America: Baltimore. From the article:

The Baltimore city government is on a path to financial ruin and must enact major reforms to stave off bankruptcy, according to a 10-year forecast the city commissioned from an outside firm.

But it was this nugget, buried towards the bottom that really stood out to me:

Baltimore already has the highest property taxes in Maryland — twice as high as in neighboring Baltimore County. The city’s local income taxes are the highest allowed under state law. While the city enacted some new taxes to deal with the 2010 deficit — including taxes on bottled beverages and higher hotel and parking levies — city officials say they can’t tax their way out of the problem without driving away residents and businesses.

“We’ve got to go from a vicious cycle to a virtuous cycle. That starts with a good, stable fiscal foundation for the city government,” said Andrew Kleine, the city’s budget director. “When you’ve lost so much population and the tax base has shrunk, it’s very difficult to deal with.”

To me, this is so damn obvious that it boggles the mind why it hasn’t been pointed out—and history has born out the fruits of this on a national level—CUT SPENDING AND TAXES. Reagan did it and it worked swimmingly. Anyone who knows anything about personal finance, or who has gone through debt counseling, knows that you CANNOT have financial stability and success if you don’t cease excessive spending.

We just saw that the last quarter of economic activity contracted. “Austerity” has been blamed for the GDP decline, except for the inconvenient fact that U.S. deficit spending went up—technically the exact opposite of “austerity”. The economy contracted because people have less confidence, less money, and lower paying, part-time jobs; all a direct result of Obama Administration policy. This is also know as an EPIC FAIL.

The economy is not going to take off this year. Hell, we’ll be lucky not to go into a recession this year.

Some more quality reading, which should of course be done away from a ledge or window…